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ash22's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Police brutality
Moderate: Gun violence and Murder
mandi_lea's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Homophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Ableism, Child abuse, Blood, and Emotional abuse
lisacanteven's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Bitter probably had the best ending I've ever read. Those last 50 pages were immaculate. I will be thinking about that ending for months. I found myself getting really emotional because of how beautiful everything was during the last 1/5 of the book. My heart was pounding, and I felt like I was really seeing it play out in my mind like the most exciting movie. I wish I could go to film school, become a world famous producer just to produce this movie like it played out in my mine. Emezi is a genius.
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Medical trauma, Gun violence, Racism, Gore, Blood, Classism, Police brutality, and Injury/Injury detail
itsnotalakeitsanocean's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
What I liked
- We got to see the inner workings of what a freedom fighter support group looks like. I feel like most modern stories about rebellion and stuff focus far too much on the people on the frontlines, or imply that you are either with a rebellion on the frontlines or against it completely which is just not true.
- In a similar vein,
the revolution is presented in a way that suggests there isn't a "one size fits all" clean solution, which is crucial to stories like this. People fighting will get brutalised, people's entire legacies will be destroyed in an instant through death or destruction. Emezi doesn't spare killing off characters or injuring them just because they're on the side of revolution or allied with it. Not only that, they do it with the appropriate amount of gravity that doesn't wallow in angst to the point of narm. - Perhaps a controversial opinion but I liked Bitter's hesitance and guilt over not being able to do anything. I think it's all too easy to expect characters to be willing to jump into the fray, with any doubts or hesitations easily fixed for plot convenience (something that with Black characters runs the risk of portraying stereotypes). Bitter has a lot of trauma to unpack about being shifted from foster home to foster home - each with their own problems that wore her down over the years. Of course she's going to be hesitant to leave the one place she's only just found is safe in her life.
Of course this mindset is challenged and approached from various different perspectives instead of coddling her safety in favour of larger community safety, but I found it refreshing that Bitter's mindset was portrayed and given respect whilst doing so. - Lots of amazing queer relationships and characters that were normalised and given the approriate amount of focus when necessary without slowing down the plot. I also really liked Ube in general - he's a really cool guy who just happens to be a wheelchair user.
What I didn't like
- The only thing I didn't care for was how quickly Aloe and Bitter got together. However, this is a very small, easily overlooked problem because they are one of the healthiest couples I've read in a while (not that I don't like a messy couple from time to time), and unlike a lot of other modern couples, they put in the effort to love each other and you can see why they love each other so much.
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Murder
Minor: Homophobia
saphfics's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Especially in times like these it can be hard to really construct a world that can be better even in our imagination. But in pet and bitter, shows us that that world could be possible but that it will be something that we need to fight for.
I hope we all can see that world some day
PS. I would recommend reading Pet first
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Gun violence
Minor: Police brutality, Outing, Panic attacks/disorders, Homophobia, and Rape
jessicaludden's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Minor: Gun violence, Murder, Racism, Child death, Police brutality, Death, Blood, Hate crime, and Body horror
re_oanslay's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Body horror, and Panic attacks/disorders
hailstorm3812's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence
Moderate: Murder, Grief, Death, Mass/school shootings, Racism, Gun violence, Homophobia, and Injury/Injury detail
edenclam's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Self harm, Murder, Blood, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Rape
cameronreads's review
4.5
Graphic: Police brutality, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Self harm
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury and Grief
Minor: Death of parent, Medical content, and Child abuse